news

February 29, 2008

Welcome to 2008!
Happy New Year from Euphonium. It’s been a while since the last update because we’ve been working on other things, most notably videos and new material. 2008 will see the release of the third Pure Sound album Acts of New Noise and the recording of new tracks for a fourth album, probably to be released in 2009 with the working title Warm. The line-up for this will be Harry Stafford (vocals, keyboards), Boz Hayward (guitar) and Vince Hunt (bass).

Just released! Acts Of New Noise
The groundbreaking album that’s taken 23 years from start to finish finally makes the starting gate – a startlingly different take on music as the Pure Sound project took on a definite shape. Read more about the album and hear three tracks on our Media page.

Pure Sound videos
Guitarist Boz Hayward is also pretty handy with a video camera. During the past year we’ve made films for three tracks from Submarine; "‘Devastating Change", "Breathe Deep" and "Atlas". You can find them at the Pure Sound MySpace page. There’ll be more.

Pure Sound: Submarine
Second album Submarine featuring Boz Hayward on guitar was critically well received across Europe on its release in August 2007, with reviews in the press and radio play in France, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Italy, USA, Canada and The Netherlands.

Like Yukon and Acts of New Noise, Submarine’s available from iTunes or via mail order from this website. Click here to read reviews or find out how to buy.

A Witness: Double Peel Sessions

Now sadly sold out.. just one left, for the library.

Marshall Smith: Two
Work is underway on the second Marshall Smith album, with three new songs written and demoed. Commitments elsewhere mean this may be a slow burner, but the first album did take eight years…

February 26, 2007

New Pure Sound line-up and albm
The second Pure Sound album Submarine will be released in May 2007.

Featuring new guitarist Boz Hayward, it's a mesmerising 12-track journey through frenetic guitar and bass set-pieces, taking in found sound, field recordings, drum tracks and voices from the past. Clocking in at just over 28 minutes, it's a whirlwind ride from the new Pure Sound. This will be available through Gott Discs, Pinnacle, Euphonium and via iTunes.

Pure Sound go live
Boz Hayward joins Pure Sound, bringing an extra guitar and vocal dimension and expanding the line-up to a four-piece. He's a guitarist of note on the Manchester scene, performing with ex-Inca Babies bassist Bill Marten in TAB-D (take a look at his MySpace page for more details). He was also Harry Stafford's guitarist in his post-Incas outfit Hound God with a Tumour.

Pure Sound are now operating as a live band and available for gigs - for booking information please go to Contact Us.

Yukon impresses Europe
The first Pure Sound album Yukon has been played on radio stations across Europe and has had dozens of reviews in magazines and webzines in Germany, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

It's available on our Buy page at £9.99 via Paypal. Read the reviews here.

Marshall Smith start second album
The Euphonium pop combo Marshall Smith, featuring Alan Brown (ex-Big Flame and Great Leap Forward) have started work on their album follow up to the debut Colours, released in September last year.

There's no release date yet, but it'll be some time as Colours drummer Daren Garratt is currently away enjoying life with Rob Lloyd's Nightingales.

Read reviews of Colours here - especially the one on the black metal ambient site Heathen Harvest!

Sacred Cow Heart re-make planned
Plans are being laid for a re-make of the lost A Witness album Sacred Cow Heart which was released in the USA only in 1988. The release coincided with the collapse of the independent scene at the time, and, trapped in warehouses while receivers did their work, the album was largely overlooked. Sacred Cow Heart was intended as a band ‘taster' prior to a tour that never happened, and the tracks on it – drawn from the Loudhailer Songs EP and before the 1986 album I Am John's Pancreas - have remained unreleased on CD ever since.

August 14, 2006

Colours Released September 25
The long-awaited debut album from Marshall Smith - Colours – is released on Euphonium on Monday September 25.

The ten song album is available through our Buy page and Pinnacle and Gott Discs, price £9.99. Plus it's also available to download through iTunes. Colours is the first new material from frontman Alan Brown and bass player Vince Hunt in 17 years, with the awesome Daren Garrett in on drums. Find out more

June 1, 2006

Pancreas Hits Europe
I Am John's Pancreas has been getting radio play all over Germany, in Finland, Portugal and The Netherlands, with interviews with Spex magazine in Germany and Rockerilla in Italy.

The press buzz in the UK continues, with Mojo, Uncut and various blogs showing their appreciation. Read the reviews in the A Witness press page.

Marshall Smith Exclusives At MySpace
There's already been a great response to the Marshall Smith MySpace site.

It features two previously unreleased tracks - "Turquoise Tornado" and "King Of Worms" - plus pictures from a recent Marshall Smith get-together in the West Midlands where the band were re-united with old friend and legendary 80s comic Ted Chippington.

April 2, 2006

I Am John's Pancreas Makes CD Debut
A Witness classic I Am John's Pancreas makes its debut on CD on April 24, twenty years after its first release. Distribution through Gott Discs and Pinnacle (EUPH001).

To coincide with its re-release Uncut magazine name album track "Red Snake" as one of their Top Ten Tracks Of The Month. The track is also getting airplay on Dutch DJ Marcelle van Hoof's radio show Another Nice Mess.

March 20, 2006

Marshall Smith Debut Due September
Marshall Smith's first album Colours, featuring Great Leap Forward frontman Alan Brown and Nightingales drummer Daren Garratt, is in the can, having been mixed and mastered last weekend. Ten superb pop tracks, due for release September 2006 (EUPH 002).

Pure Sound Make Yukon First Release
Yukon will be the first album of the Pure Sound series (not Submarine as mentioned below). Scheduled for release in October 2006 it features ten tracks of colossal bass lines, controlled feedback and relentless rhythms, mixed with John Lomax-era samples and covers of classic Goldrush poems. Unmissable. (EUPH 003).

January 30, 2006  

A Witness Classic Set For Re-release
The digitally re-mastered CD version of A Witness' classic debut album I Am John's Pancreas is ready for release, twenty years after it first appeared. The original quarter-inch tapes were missing for 12 years until re-discovered recently in a former drummer's attic.

The CD features new sleeve notes, lyrics, pictures from the band's private collection and a complete discography, and will be released on Euphonium, distributed by Gott Discs through Pinnacle.

Marshall Smith In The Studio
The band were in the studio between Christmas and New Year recording tracks for their first album Insert Blank Canvas which is scheduled for release during 2006.

Marshall Smith features Alan Brown (ex Great Leap Forward and Big Flame) on vocals and guitar, Daren Garratt (ex Pram, currently Nightingales) on drums and Vince Hunt on bass. Great pop melodies with a firm foundation.  

New Releases Due From Pure Sound
The first album from Vince Hunt's Pure Sound project is Submarine, full of colossal bass lines, frenetic guitar work and industrial sound. Submarine is due for release during 2006, with the follow-up Yukon waiting impatiently. Watch these news pages for updates.